Military officials view December as the optimal month for a US and Iraqi government offensive to reclaim the rebel enclave of Fallujah ahead of January national elections.
December is when Iraqi forces will come on line ready to participate in a full-fledged operation to take out Fallujah, considered the planning center for many of the spectacular car bombings that have plagued the country.
A security plan, drafted by the new Iraqi government and the top US General in Iraq, George Casey, calls for combined US and Iraqi security forces to claim back cities like Fallujah, Ramadi and Samarra that have swung out of their control.
The deadline is the January elections -- Iraq's first free polls in five decades -- which are in jeopardy amid the wave of bombings and assassinations. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has raised skepticism about the date.
"Fallujah will be tough and we've got to make a decision when the cancer of Fallujah needs to be cut out ... We would like to end December at local control across the country," one senior officer told reporters.
The deputy for training Iraqi security forces, Brigadier Nigel Aylwin-Foster, told reporters that Iraqi forces still needed to gain more experience but that chances for victory would be high in December.
"It really depends on what level of risk the [Iraqi] leadership is prepared to take," Aylwin-Foster said.
"There will be a lot more security forces available by December. There will still be a level of risk, but there will be less risk than there is now because there will be more security forces."
But Aylwin-Foster stressed he did not know what the US and Iraqi leadership would decide was a proper number of Iraqi forces for an attack on Fallujah. Still, in December, roughly 7,200 men from nine elite intervention force battalions will be on line, with three of the units able to operate independently.
The intervention force has been designed specifically for fighting inside Iraq and is a by-product of April's failed US assault on Fallujah that saw Iraqi soldiers and national guard desert, unprepared to fight their countrymen.
The number of regular army battalions will have more than doubled to roughly 13,000 soldiers by December, with nine out of 16 battalions rated capable of independent action and trained for guerrilla warfare.
The interior ministry will also have a "civil intervention force," made up of police, ready in December to join any major fight, Aylwin-Foster added.
More than 40,000 national guardsmen would also be deployable for an offensive on rebel hotbeds.
The chairman of US joint chiefs of staff, General Richard Myers, stressed on Sept. 7 a campaign to reclaim Fallujah would need an Iraqi face and said Iraqi forces would not be ready until December.
"By December, we're going to have a substantial number of Iraqi security forces equipped, trained and led to conduct the kind of operations I was talking about,"
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
Myanmar’s junta chief met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for the first time since seizing power, state media reported yesterday, the highest-level meeting with a key ally for the internationally sanctioned military leader. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup in 2021, overthrowing Myanmar’s brief experiment with democracy and plunging the nation into civil war. In the four years since, his armed forces have battled dozens of ethnic armed groups and rebel militias — some with close links to China — opposed to its rule. The conflict has seen Min Aung Hlaing draw condemnation from rights groups and pursued by the
RSS